Tempo Liquido CD

Tempo Liquido was created as a sound installation/performance by Christina Kubisch and Fabrizio Plessi in the late '70s. Under two giant screens showing various pictures and clips of circle-shaped artifacts taken from all ages and cultures, the two artists were sitting in front of double-ply glass panels. Water trickled over the glass and a video camera projected the image of this waterfall on the screens. Water, circle, and time (a clock occupied a central place in the proceedings) established a complex network of symbols, all related to the notions of infinity and renewal. The music portion was supplied by a tape loop made of seemingly random synthesizer notes, a five-note motif also of an electronic nature, a track of steel drum, and a sho (a Japanese wind instrument) that sounds more like a train whistle. The glass panels were also equipped with contact microphones. The artists scratched them in a circular motion. This is what listeners hear on the two 20-minute tracks of this album. Things build up to a glass-screeching frenzy in the beginning of "Tempo Liquido II" and slowly simmer down, back to the opening electronics. On their own, the sonic elements are strange, cold, and menacing. Put back into the context of the installation, they become more fascinating. Tempo Liquido was first released as an LP on Cramps in 1979. The label Ampersand reissued it on CD in 2002, adding helpful photographs and liner notes. But instead of reproducing the LP tracks as they were, an effort could have been made to reattach them as a continuous performance -- or at least add a fade-in at the beginning of what was side two. ~ François Couture

"The performance started with a 4-channel ambient sound that continued throughout the whole performance. Since I had no sampling possibilities at that time, all of the instruments were recorded solo in my studio on a Revox machine. The recordings - one c